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Vatican: help with itinerary times

Posted by on

Hello. I was wondering if anyone can help me figure out our itinerary for the Vatican. I haven't been in about 10 years, and I'm a bit nervous about crowds as even though we will be there at a relatively quiet time for Italy - March - it will be a Jubilee year.

We have a reservation for the Scavi tour at 9am on a Monday.

I assume that we should go into the Basilica next because I heard that we end near the Basilica - so no need to book a tour to skip the lines here.

I think we would then need to see the Vatican museums and make our way over to the Sistine Chapel. I was planning on buying the tickets in advance from the official site. The thing is, I'm not sure what time to schedule the tickets for - I think the Scavi tour is 90 min and then the Basilica should take us at least an hour? Would noon be too early for the Vatican Museum? I have decided to being sandwiches for lunch to eat before we go in to the Vatican museums.

Thank you for any help!

Posted by
297 posts

We just did the Scavi tour last Monday. Plan on being there at least 15 minutes before your scheduled time. You will not be able to take large bags into the tour, if that is what you were planning on taking sandwiches in. A purse is about all you can manage to bring in. You will finish the tour right beside the entrance to th church, pop around the door and you are in! Allow about 30 minutes walk from st, peters to muesum as there will still be some crowds and traffic and of course lots of stores to check out! Why not forget the sandwich and have a fantastic slice of pizza at Alices Pizza (check this on TA) on your way to the muesum. It's delicious and very easy. If doing this noon, or 12:30 should be ample time.

Posted by
792 posts

absolutely buy your tickets online in advance from the Vatican site. Mine was for 10:00 AM, and the line was already a block long for those without advanced tickets. Oh, and you can just show the ticket on a smartphone/tablet ...printed copy not needed.

Posted by
11316 posts

After the Scavi and the Basilica, I would encourage you to give yourselves some time before tackling the museums. Perhaps make your reserved entry for 13:30. Then you won't have to rush and can sit down for a bit, give your feet and your body a rest over lunch.

Scavi 9:00-10:30 (arrive 15 minutes prior)

Basilica 10:30-11:15 (see Rick Steves' audio tour)

Plus 30 minutes to get to the Museum entrance and 60-90 for lunch/rest/bathroom.

Posted by
11294 posts

"30 minutes to get to the Museum entrance"

This part is important - it's quite a distance between the Basilica and the entrance to the Vatican Museums.

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